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FISHNETSTOCKINGS is an interactive installation created by digital artist Joellyn Rock, computer scientist Pete Willemsen, visual artist Alison Aune, and a crew of collaborators. The participatory space allows the audience to dive in and make virtual waves inside this alt version of a very old tale. A layered mix of digital video, text, silhouettes and cutout elements are motion activated with a combo of code, Processing and Kinect.

Final Projects must integrate the concept of DIGITAL ART MIXED-MEDIA. Your approach may use tactile materials or traditional art techniques at the beginning or the end of your process. Your final project plan must outline your step by step plan, and describe the final format you will turn in for grading. More info in class!

SOME OPTIONS…

Option 1 : TO SLEEP PERCHANCE TO DREAM
Work with personal ideas about sleep and dreams to develop a conceptual approach to the theme. Create original imagery on the sleep/dream theme using digital tools. Images may be illustrative, abstract, photographic or any mix. Experiment with tactile media and iron-on image transfer process to integrate digital imagery onto fabric. Use both compositional space and limited materials inventively to solve this problem. Craft a final mixed-media work that creatively uses both sides of a cotton pillowcase. Inspiration on blog:http://blog.lib.umn.edu/jrock2/rockblog/cat_dreamsleep_projects.html

Option 2: NATURE MEETS MACHINE / Create a work of digital mixed-media art that explores the relationship between the natural world and technology. Respond honestly to your own experience with digital media and daily life. Work with imagery and mixed-media to express your thoughts about how to strike balance in the digital age. Works may be in any materials, but must integrate both digital media and nature in some way.

Option 4: Mermaid Mashups
Contribute imagery or animations to the collaborative Mermaid Tales digital projections / project to be shared at the Nordic Center gallery in Duluth May 8-26. See more info in class.

On Saturday April 25, UMD’s Department of Art & Design will opens its doors to the public to view student work and facilities from 1 – 4 p.m. The Open Studio event includes classroom tours, demonstrations, hands-on activities, live music, and an affordable art sale of student work. The studios are located in Anderson Hall, Montague Hall, and the Humanities Building at 1201 Ordean Court on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus.

After touring the Art & Design studios, the public is welcome to attend the Annual Student Exhibition Reception, which will be held at the Tweed Museum from 4 – 6 p.m. The exhibition reception will feature live music, refreshments, and an awards ceremony at 5 p.m. to announce the exhibition prizes and honor UMD Art & Design scholarship students.

This full day of events will wrap up with a rooftop barn dance in Bohannon Plaza, featuring local musicians and dance callers, Four Mile Portage, from 6 – 8 p.m. Bring a creative spirit, wear your dancing shoes!

The body and identity have become prominent themes in the digital realm, centering on questions of how we define ourselves in virtual as well as networked physical space. While our physical bodies are still individual, physical objects, they have also become increasingly transparent; exact surveillance and identification seem to threaten the idea of individual autonomy… Our virtual existence suggests the opposite of a unified, individual body – multiple selves inhabiting mediated realities.
– Christiane Paul
author of Digital Art

Mosaic Project
This digital art project poses a question: What is portraiture in the digital age? Consider the history of portraiture, especially self-portraits by artists, and how the era is reflected in the style of the portrait. Some examples:http://www.d.umn.edu/~jrock2/self_portraits/

Create a self-portrait that reflects your own identity as an artist in this contemporary age. Your portrait must also engage the concept of mosaic in digital media and should be assembled from multiple pieces that together form the whole. Allow the divisions between these pieces to play an active role in the image dynamics of the portrait. As tiled images these should reflect the multiplicity and fragmentation of personal identity in the digital age. Consider mixing traditional techniques (drawing, painting, etc) with digital techniques. Employ art principles to strengthen image unity (color, line, texture, etc). Assemble a dynamic image that contains both unity and surprise. Work at appropriate image resolution for quality output. Plan ahead for a final work at large scale (at least 20 inches in one direction.) Assemble mixed-media to highest quality final craft.